


What You're (Not) Looking For

by the_queenregent



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, really it's a bunch of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-24 23:53:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6171754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_queenregent/pseuds/the_queenregent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last thing Nicole Phasma expects to find when she's looking for her sketchbook after school is a girl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What You're (Not) Looking For

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Reysma, hurt/comfort  
> For @faeriviera on tumblr

The last thing Nicole Phasma expects to find when she's looking for her sketchbook after school is a girl.

She had left the big book in the art room during fifth period, but hadn't noticed until halfway through sixth, so she went too look as soon as the bell rang.

The classroom is empty when she pushes the door open--or, it seems to be. Nicole wanders around the long tables, but they're bare, as is the floor beneath them. Her sketchbook isn't on the teacher's desk, or on the back table, or the counter with the sinks and paintbrushes. It's not near the drying rack, or in her designated cubby on the left wall. The room is big, and cluttered too; she could have missed it, but probably not. There's only one other place it could be. But why would it be there? She tries anyway. 

One of the unique things about this classroom is that it connects to the pottery room. There's a lot of furniture in the back corner--stuff for drying, craft supplies, places to put paintings, et cetera--along with a little closet, and between those two is a wide door that is always open. Nicole's destination, however, is not the pottery room but the closet. 

The heavy door is closed, and the lights are off, so she flicks them on when she enters. What she finds inside is both the first and last things she expects.

Yes, her sketchbook is there, but it's in the arms of a crying girl. 

It should be the last thing on her mind, but the girl is very pretty. Small, curled up on the floor, but pretty, with a freckled face and soft-looking dark hair pulled back into a bun. Actually, scratch that; not one bun, but three.

She looks up when Nicole enters, eyes wide and face tearstained, looking like she has been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. They stare at each other for a good twenty seconds before the girl speaks: "Is this yours?" Her voice is surprisingly steady. 

"Yeah," Nicole is unsure of what else to say, so she takes a few steps forward. "Yeah, it's mine."

The girl wipes her cheeks. "Sorry. I was trying to find you, to give it back, but I got… sidetracked."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Oh." She looks up at Nicole with eyes like chocolate. "No. You don't know me. I know you."

Nicole's hands hang awkwardly at her sides. The girl is still firmly holding the sketchbook. "You do?"

"You're Nicole Phasma. My cousin's friend."

Recognition dawns on her. "Oh, you're Rey!" Without thinking about it, she sits down. Rey looks shocked, and immediately offers the sketchbook. Nicole takes it. "Kylo has told me about you."

"And he's told _me_ about _you_."

Silence fills the room once more, until she asks, "Why are you crying?"

If Rey had been shocked when Nicole sat down, that's nothing compared to now. "Oh, I, well…" She breaks eye contact and looks down at the floor, watching her own fingers trace patterns into the dust. "It's kind of personal. You probably wouldn't understand."

Nicole is surprised by her own response: "Try me."

Clearly dubious, Rey looks back up. "A lot happened today. My friend and I got suspended. Kylo did too, I don't know if you knew that."

"He did?"

"We were fighting in the hall. He started it," she says, sounding defensive. "On top of that, my father was fired from his job. And Kylo's been such a little _shitlord_ all week. I mean, he usually is, but it's been even worse. The closer to graduation he gets, the more his permanent emo phase shows itself." The more she talks, the better she seems to become. It's obvious that she's getting a lot off her chest. Slowly, she starts to uncurl, until she's practically leaning forward, talking to Nicole like they're old friends.

Nicole feels deeply honored, and also a little flustered. She's a bit red in the cheeks.

They sit in the closer together for a while, and eventually Nicole looses track of the time. She has long since set her sketchbook down, long since shifted into a more comfortable sitting position. 

Together, they complain about Kylo, swap stories, talk about everything. Nicole, a senior, gives Rey advice for future years. Rey wants to know what it's like to endure both Kylo and Hux on a daily basis.

"It's not really enduring," Nicole explains. "You get to know them, they trust you, and it's better."

Rey's eyes are no longer red from crying. She has very pretty eyes, and chapped lips that she smiles with. It's a good sign. 

"Do you feel better now?" Careful, careful. Tread lightly. Don't push too much.

There's no hesitation. "Yes."


End file.
